Note how small the diameter of the root canal is at the end of the root of the tooth and then visualize an artery, vein and nerve all entering the tooth at that point. You can readily see how a blow to the mouth or teeth could cause blood vessels to be severed. When that happens, the severed artery cannot heal together fast enough to maintain blood circulation within the tooth.

When tooth loses its blood supply, the pulp tissue within the root canal dies off for lack of nourishment and gradually rots and putrefies. Eventually it can become infected with bacteria present in the blood, and this eventually will cause the eating away of the bone at the end of the tooth's root. In this particular case, the through the bone at the floor of the nasal cavity.

This young man was a navy pilot flying off a carrier during the Korean war. he wrote to me about having an infected tooth and asked my advice. I suggested he have the ship's navy dentist give him relief and not to permit any extractions. On his return to the san Diego naval base, he traveled to see me and I performed the apicoectomy surgery and root canal fillings. The two follow-up x-ray pictures were taken at six months and 12 months. You can see the healing was almost complete after one year. After that time the patient moved from the area, so I do not have any further follow-ups.

The public should be aware of how difficult it is for a dentist to understand Dr. Price's findings that seemingly healthy teeth are still carrying infection when infected holes in jaw bones heal up and stay that way for many years. The thought of bacteria remaining alive in the dentin tubules, mutating and becoming more virulent and toxic is difficult to comprehend in the face of apparent healing.

Our doubts can be erased only by carefully considering Dr. Price's data regarding the severe illnesses which occurred to thousands of rabbits when diseases were transferred to them from root filled and apicoectomy treated teeth extracted from sick patients. The reality will become evident when each dentist and each patient tests these findings and experiences their truths. We will then gain an understanding of the mutation versatility of these families of bacteria and their ability to create such havoc for humans and animals.

A new truth is a new sense, for with it comes the ability to see things we could not see before - and things which cannot be seen by those who do not have that new truth. An apicoectomy is an oral surgery root canal treatment procedure that is carried out to save a tooth which might otherwise need to be extracted.

Even when a large amount of bone has been lost, most of these cases heal uneventfully and new bone is seen to fill in about the end of the root completely in six to 12 months. A couple of case histories of apicoectomy surgery from my personal practice are discussed, and before and after x-ray pictures are shown.

The first, of a woman patient, is of interest because of large, almost identical granuloma infections showing lateral canals which came from the upper teeth on either side of her two front teeth. Though her severe gastronintestinal involvement improved dramatically with root canal treatment of these teeth and nutritional counselling, results were not completely satisfactory. With our current knowledge of Dr. Price's research discoveries - and in spite of the long history of service of these two teeth - with hindsight it appears she would have been better served by removal of these teeth.

The second case involved the largest cyst surgically operated upon, which was caused not by tooth decay but by a football injury. the filling in of new bone at the infection site around the two teeth after six and 12 months proved gratifying to me and the patient. Because he moved away, I am unaware of his subsequent health history.

The successful healing in these two cases emphasizes how difficult it is for dentists and patients alike to believe these teeth could still be carrying infections. For those suffering severe degenerative disease problems, it will be only by having seemingly healthy root filled teeth removed that judgement of Price's work will be possible. While the percentage of apparent recoveries in such cases is high, it must be kept in mind other factors can be involved which preclude success.

Copyright (c) 2007 Sung Lee, and George Meinig D.D.S